Arab and Muslim women are not only making international news but are also the spotlight of local events and discussions in every American city, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Take for example the latest presentation by Dr. Rima Abunasser, TCU Professor specializing in 18th Century British literature, post-colonial theory, and the intersections of ethnicity, race, and gender in the Arab world. Dr. Abunasser presented to the TCU community on February 1st a talk and power point presentation that she had previously presented at SMU, altering American views and misconceptions of Arab and Muslim women on both campuses.“Blind Spots: Feminism, Nationalism, and Revolution in the Arab World” is the title of the talk that catches the audience’s attention from its first slide, featuring an Arab woman in full black burqa raised above a crowd of men and women, leading and mobilizing them during the Yemeni revolution in Sanaa.
“Is there such a thing as Arab feminism?” Dr. Abunasser discussed that there actually is such a thing even though it has been invisible and had remained in the blind spot for the last couple of centuries, and despite the fact that this form of feminism does not fit into Western measurements and standards. Thus feminism is diverse across the large Arab and Muslim world, and just because something does not fit into a Western label doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t exist, Dr. Abunasser said. She further gave examples of contemporary Arab feminist voices like Margo Badran (who translated and presented the works of Huda Sha’rawi) and Fatema Mernissi, making sure not to skip through the renowned feminists of the 19th Century Arab world like Huda Sha’rawi, who contributed to the Arab nationalistic movements that finally led to independence from colonialism in the 20th Century.
Huda Sha’rawi’s accomplishments deserve special recognition for she was one of the first Egyptian feminists in Cairo and Alexandria. In 1923, she founded the Egyptian Feminist Union to support women’s rights in suffrage, education, philanthropy, social services as well as nationalism. She argued that women had a duty to resist patriarchy as much as colonialism. Needless to mention, among her arguments was the patriarchichal misinterpretation of the Quran. Such arguments were to find opponents among men and women of later generations who found support in the Muslim reformists’ thoughts such as Muhammad Abdu and others, calling for keeping up with changing times and social structures in the interpretation of the Islamic laws found in the Quran.
Since Sha’rawi’s death, the women’s situation in Egypt and the Arab Muslim world has deteriorated, mainly because the region fell into tyranny. A prominent American Muslim scholar, Dr. Umar Faruq Abdullah, known for his Famous Women in Islam lectures, said that whenever a society is oppressed, its male members turn to women and oppress them. The opposite is equally true, whenever women are liberated, as Islam requires, men, too, get liberated. Today’s Arab and Muslim world is awakening from the oppression of the minds and souls. If the Muslim traditionalists as well as the secular patriarchs have used an anti-feminist agenda for decades since the nineteenth century, the Arab revolutions are in full swing, bringing back the voices of the oppressed, including those of women, Muslim and non-Muslim. Calling for their freedom; to wear the burqa or not to wear it, to practice their religious beliefs, to empower themselves, and to empower men in their society, Arab women are speaking louder and louder. One of the most influential tools they are using is information. The power to express, pass, present, and challenge information is the nucleus of this revolution, whether you call it feminist, Arab, modern, Muslim, or just human.
Such rights and power for presentation is a tool many Arab women in Texas, like Dr. Rima Abunasser, are using; and it’s only the beginning. Stay tuned for more discussions coming to a campus or institution near you. I highly recommend that you don’t miss out the opportunity to attend a panel discussion on Tuesday February 14th at SMU at noon, with lunch served by Fadi’s Mediterranean food. “Subjugated or Liberated? Muslim Women’s Rights under Secular and Religious laws” will be presented by Dr. Robert Hunt from SMU’s Perkins School of Theology, Professor Sahar Aziz, Associate Professor of Law at Texas Wesleyan University and member at Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, and Dr. Masuma Rasheed with the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation. The event will take place at SMU’s Dedman School of Law, Florence Hall, Room 201. Please visit this link to register for the luncheon.
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